This article seeks to explain how militarism and export dependence influence the biosphere’s ability to meet the consumption-based demands placed upon it by human populations. The authors examine key predictors of per capita Biological Capacity, an estimate of the resources utilized in the production of final goods and services, in order to assess two broad areas of literature. First, the “Treadmill of Destruction” argument suggests that an increase in military spending and armed conflicts causes environmental degradation, reducing Biological Capacity. Second, the “Ecologically Unequal Exchange” approach indicates that underdeveloped states with higher levels of export dependence will also have reduced Biological Capacity. Our findings largely confirm both hypotheses. Results also indicate that diminished Biological Capacity plays a key role in explaining the negative association found in previous studies between export dependence and domestic consumption among low income countries.